This invention relates generally to eyeglasses and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for designing and modifying the shape of eyeglass lenses and the front rims of eyeglass frames.
Eyeglass frames typically have a particular style (the combination of material, color, texture, feature decorations, and overall appearance) and a particular shape (the geometric description of the contour of the front rims of the eyeglass frame). For each style there may be several different shapes (e.g. round, square etc.), and for each shape there may be several different styles (metal, plastic, translucent, engraved, etc.). Eyeglasses, the combination of eyeglass lenses (hereinafter referred to as “lenses”) and eyeglass frames, typically include lenses having a certain shape, eyeglass frames having a matching shape, a certain style, and a particular combination of functional elements (legs, nose pads and other functional elements).
In the eyeglass industry there is a conflict between a customer's desire for personalized design and the mass production employed by the industry. On one hand, it is believed that eyeglasses greatly influence the looks and perceived character of a customer, who often wears the glasses daily for long periods of time. This influence drives a desire to obtain a personalized design that fits a variety of criteria (e.g. facial features and style preferences of the customer, current fashion guidelines, social constraints etc.). On the other hand, the manufacturing industry operates on a large scale production in which eyeglasses are distributed to consumers via retailers. This large scale production causes the need for standardized design of eyeglasses. It appears that the industry has addressed this conflict by producing a large variety of shapes and styles, that customers review in a lengthy and often complex selection process. In addition, retailers stock a large inventory of eyeglass frames, which changes often, and hire a relatively large number of experienced employees to guide customers in their selection process.
In today's optical stores, it is typically the responsibility of the retailer to translate a customer's personality, style, and social preferences into shapes and styles of eyeglass frames, leading to a lengthy and frustrating process for the customer. The process becomes even more lengthy and frustrating for the customer when the retailer is not experienced or esthetically sensitive, does not properly communicate with the customer, or is just trying to serve more than one customer at a time.